Tottenham Hotspur are reportedly interested in signing the Sporting CP midfielder, Manuel Ugarte.
According to a report from the Portuguese publication Record, Tottenham are one of the clubs keeping tabs on the 21-year-old Uruguay international.
The defensive midfielder has a contract with Sporting until the summer of 2026 and the player has a release clause of €60 million.
However, Sporting are hoping to extend his contract and increase the release clause to €80 million. However, the Portuguese outfit have not been able to agree on an extension with the player’s representatives. Apparently, they are willing to pay him wages of around €500,000 to €600,000. But the player’s agent is demanding wages of around €700,000 per year.
It will be interesting to see if the two parties can come to a compromise in the coming weeks.
Ugarte was quite impressive against Tottenham in the Champions League group stages earlier this season and it is no surprise that Antonio Conte is keeping tabs on the player. The 21-year-old has the potential to develop into a top-class player in the future.
However, the London club already have players like Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and Yves Bissouma at their disposal and they might not be able to offer the Uruguay midfielder regular first-team football.
He is better off staying at Sporting for now. Ugarte needs regular football to continue his development and fulfill his potential. He will have plenty of opportunities to join a big club in the future if he can continue to improve.
It will be interesting to see how the situation evolves over the next few months.